Radio station control system



Jan. 23, 1940. A. G. FOSS I 2,187,851

RADIO STATION CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Dec. 20, 1937 2 Shees-$heet l fires aer-z 337 I I 1 J A Q 5% F23 5j"37 5 8 7 H21 B2 p25 H27 P2? 4% //V Vii/VTOE: fidam i585 am 23,, 1940. A. G. FOSS more STATION cormzoa SYSTEM 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

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Patented Jan. 23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in the art of radiocontrol systems and has particular reference to'an improved system whichis constructed and arranged in a manner whereby a number of switches maybe adjusted so that a corresponding number of programs may be heardduring the period of a single evening without the necessity of turningthe customary dial for tuning in for a particular-station, or forchanging from one station. to another.

Another important advantage of the invention is that when the particularstations desired for the evening entertainment have been adjusted,

each of them will come in at the designated time and stop when theprogram is complete, and the starting and stopping of each station isentirely automatic. I Y

Inasmuch as radioprograms are based upon intervals of fifteen minutes orthe multiples thereof, for illustration I have arranged so that sixprograms of fifteen minutes each may be heard with a single adjustmentof the system, or one program of one hour and another of thirty minutes;in fact, any combination of programs may be heard within the range ofone and one-half hours. However, the system is limited to the range ofone and one-half hours. It may provide for less than six fifteen minuteperiods, or

any number ,of periods in excess of six may be likewise used. The systemwhich I disclose is also susceptible of application to the control ofapparatus of various kinds of other than radio receiving sets, as willbe apparent to those skilled in the art.

With reference to the drawings: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view ofthecom-' plete electric circuit, also showing the time clockarrangement, distributor, and part of the prin- Figure 7 is an enlargedsectional view taken at a the position of line 'I--l of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a section upon line 8-8 of Figure 5.

Figure 9 is a section upon line 99 of Figure 5. Figure 10 is a sectionalview upon line IHl of Figure 2.

,Figure 11 is a view upon. line ll-ll of Figure 6. I

, ploy the use of conventional type electric motor I which is geared soas to rotate approximately 3. to 6 times per minute, and may operate onA. C. or D. C. current.

Referring to Figure 1, wall plug 2 is the means by which the systemconnects with the electric supply circuit, and leading from said plugare wires 3 and 4 to clock 5. The path of the current is carried throughwire 6 to toggle switch 1' through wires 8 and 9, returning through wireH! to magnet ll. Wire l2 has permanent connection with wire 4. Wire 8connects with contact arm !3 through copper sleeve 14, contact member l5of metal and any of metal contacts l6 upon distributor I! through wire[8 to toggle switches 19. Wire connects with toggle switches 2|. Wire 22connects with toggle switches 23. -.Wire 24 connects with toggleswitches 25. Wire 26 connects with toggle switches 21, and wire 28likewise connects with toggle switches 29.

Toggle switch l5 moved to contact wire 30 connects with contact 3|mounted upon insulating drum 32, and this switch, when moved to contactwire 33, connects with contact 34.v

Switch l9 movedv to contact wire connects with contact 36, and whenmoved to contact wire 31 connects with contact 38.

Switch I9 moved to contact wire 39 connects with Contact, and when movedto contact wire 4! connects with contact 42.

Toggle switches 2!, 23, 25, 21, and 29 operate similar'to that of toggleswitch I9.

Still referring to Figure 1, it is understood that electric-conductingcylinder 43 is disposed within drum 32 and said drum is permanentlyfixed as at 44, also cylinder 43 is secured to the drum by threads 45.Bushing 45 is provided within cylinder 43 in which is journaled one endof horizontal shaft 41.

A plurality of trolleys 4B are provided and each of said trolleys beingpivoted at 49 to drum 32 in spaced apart relation where indicated, alsospring 50 is for purpose of holding said trolleys normally in contactwith outer surface of cylinder 43 until at such time when any oneof thetrolleys is raised out of contact with said cylinder by copper arm 5!,and said arm is secured to vertical lever 52 as shown. Lever 152 issecured to shaft 41 by pin 53. Arm 54 is secured to lever 52'where shownand has contact members 55 secured thereto so that said members will bein normal contact with inner surface of cylinder 43. v

Referring now to Figure 4, it is clear that pressed upon shaft 41 andintegral therewith is large insulating sleeve 5'! adjacent lever 52, andhaving metal band 58 pressed upon sleeve 5?. Adjacent to sleeve 51'! issmall insulating sleeve 59 upon which is pressed metal band 60. Passage6| extending through lever. 52, sleeves 5? and 59 are for the purpose ofaccommodating wire 62 through both sleeve elements and said lever. Oneend of said wire is connected to terminal 63 upon band 60. The oppositeend of wire 62 connects with terminal 64 upon arm 51. v

Member 65 permanently contacts band 58, and wire 66 therefrom leads topush-button make switch 6"! and also to motor I. Member 68 permanentlycontacts band 60, and wire iili leading thereform to radio power supply,also switch. ill

where indicated.

With reference to Figures 6 and 11, it is clear that ball bearing?! ispressed upon shaft ll, and

close to said bearing is cam I2 also pressed upon said shaft, and thecam permanentlyeng'aging roller I3, said roller is supported by yoke I4of gear, rack 75, and said rack being permanently supported and guidedby members 76, said mem-' bers are fixed with radio chassis. A. Gear llpermanently engages rack 75, and is the gear shaft 79.

chassis A by braces all where indicated. Il'lS'llr" securedto shaft l'IAof variable tuning condenser of the radio apparatus. It is also notedthat roller- '13 is held in contact with cam I2 by means of spring 13Abeing connected to ball bearing II and to M.

Referring now to Figures 1, 5,7, 8, and distributor I! is pressed uponball bearing wand said bearing is inturn'fpressed upon horizontal Thedistributor is anchored to radio lating bushing BI is pressed upon shaft79 and copper sleeve M. is in turn pressed upon said bushing; At theopposite end portion of shaft I9 metal sleeve 82 is formed withinmanually operated knob 8-3-and is adapted to turn with said knob uponshaft I9. has elongated slot 84 therein and is hollow so as to receivespring 85 against pin E6, said pin is secured to knob 83. Arm 8? ispermanently fixed with chassis A and extends outwardly therefrom so asto stop knob 83 from turning, which will be explained later.

Shaft I9 is journaled within roller bearing 38 where shown. Spring steelmember 89 is fixed with brace 80 and bears against shaft 19 thusperforming as a governor for said shaft.

Ball bearing 90 is pressed upon shaft 19, and ratchet 9! is likewisepressed upon said shaft with pawl pivoted to bearing 90 and engagingsaidratchet as indicated, also tension spring 93 for l0, and 13, themechanism coacting with time i clock 5, comprises double spirallygroovedspool 7&-

99'which is mounted upon horizontal shaft Hill,

This end of shaft Ill and said shaft is journaled within qthe walls ofing arm Hi l secured thereto, said arm being non-conductive and havingmetal shoe I05 secured to the'lower end there'ohsaid shoe permanentlyengages spiral grooves 99A. of spool 99.

Shaft M2 is provided with a keyway coaoting with key within tracer i62so that said tracer is prevented turning upon said shaft.

Double metal contact member IE6 is secured to insulating bushing filland straddles shaft I02 with wire ill leading therefrom, also wire 9leading from shaft I532.

With eferenceto Figure l2 in which appears an merit of contact membersI5, 55, 65, fill, each of said members having floating tip ..thin tubeand spring 5 ill acting against said tip. Also contact I l 5 upon saidtube where indicated. i .7

The details of construction of the complete invention having been setforth in the severalpreceding paragraphs the precise manner in which theoperates immediately follows: i The source of supply of electric currenti through wires l to clock 5, and it is assumed th the desired forvarious programs to be heard covers a period of from eleven thirty a. m.to three p. m., andthis is controlled by starting dal 1A, which is setfor eleven thirty, and stop dial l3 is likewise set so as to stop atthree p. m., switch '5 is thenturned on, and toggle switches iii, ii 2i,and 29' each controls the system so that a program of fifteen minutesmay be heard, thus the entiretime'would be one and one-half hours,however, the clock is setfor a period of 'tiree and one-half hours, andin this case switch 29 will allow the system to continue until threeoclock, the time set on step dial EB. Distributor, knob 83 is then seton start.

There are three switches is, and each of said switches are capable ofselecting two broadcasting station,' but in the .series of switches I9only one of them may be used to select a single station during thefifteen minute period, and this advantage and operation is identicalwith switches 25, 23, 25, 27, and 251, however, switch 29 will remain ineffect until stopped by dial 53 on clock 5.

The system is new in readiness for operation and will select theparticular stations as they have been set according to the programsdesired.

v When clock 5 reaches thetime set on starting dial ea current passesthrough wire 6 and switch I to wire 8 to contact member 53, and wire 9to shaft Hi2, then tracer Hi3 moves in a horizontal path, and by virtueof depending arm I04 it is adapted to move forwardly or rearwardlythrough double spiral groove MA. simultaneous with the rotating of spool99 which is actuated by pinion ldi and clock gear 5C. Tracer 563 iscarried the full length of spool 99 and returned every fifteen minutes,and at-the expiration of this period said tracer contacts member Midwhich passes curmoving contact member I5 from one of contacts 6 to thenext one of said contacts. The current flows through arm I3 to I 4, l5,and I6 and through wire 18 to switches it through any one of saidswitches being turned on, and from this switch the current flows throughthe corresponding wire of the wires 33, 35, 31, 39, M to thecorresponding of trolleys 48, said trolleys normally contact metalcylinder d3 through contact members and arm 54 to 58, 65, and 56 tomotor I thus operating same rotating shaft M moving lever 52 and arm 5!thus lifting the one of trolleys 48 carrying the current to 43 and tomotor I so as to move this trolley out of contact with cylinder 43,thereby stopping said motor.

During the period in which motor i is in operation through shaft 4! cam12 is rotated thereby moving rack forwardly and rearwardly simultaneously rotating gear ii, said gear being attached to the variabletuning condenser shaft of the radio, thus causing said condenser tooperate consistent with the stations selected.

While I have described a particular embodiment of my invention as anexample, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that myinvention is susceptible of other embodiments, and all such embodimentswhich are covered by the scope of the appended claims I consider to bewithin the spirit of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a radio station control system, a shaft, a driving motor therefor,a drum secured thereto, a metal cylinder within said drum and securedthereto, a plurality of trolleys pivoted on the inner surface of saiddrum and spring means to bias said trolleys agaisnt the outer surface ofsaid cylinder, a lever secured to said shaft, an arm cooperating withsaid trolleys and secured to the end of said lever at right anglesthereto, a source of current and a plurality of selectable circuits fromsaid source, through said. trolleys and cylinder to said motor whereby,upon energization of one of said circuits through one of said trolleys,said motor moves said lever and arm to a position where said arm movessaid trolley out of contact with said cylinder to open said circuit andstop the motor.

2. In a radio control system, a shaft, a driving motor therefor, a drumsecured thereto, a metal cylinder within said drum and secured thereto,a plurality of trolleys pivoted on the inner surface of said drum andspring means to bias said trolleys against the outer surface of saidcylinder, a lever secured to said shaft, an arm cooperating with saidtrolleys and secured to the end of said lever and at right anglesthereto, a source of current, a large insulating sleeve fixed to saidshaft and a first metal sleeve upon said large sleeve, a smallinsulating sleeve and a second metal sleeve thereon fixed to said shaftand adiaoent said large insulating sleeve, said lever and insulatingsleeves being provided with a passage extending through said lever andboth of said insulating sleeves and parallel to said shaft, so that awire may pass entirely through all three elements, a contact point uponsaid lever and a similar point on said second metal sleeve, a firstcontact member permanently engaging said second metal sleeve, a secondcontact member permanently engaging said first metal sleeve, and aplurality of selectable circuits from said source, through said trolleysand cylinder to said motor whereby, upon energization of one of saidcircuits through one of the trolleys, said motor moves said lever andarm to a position where said arm moves said trolley out of contact withsaid cylinder to open said circuit and stop the motor.

3. In a radio receiver control system, a cam fixed to the shaft of anelectric motor, a roller normally engaging said cam, a gear rack and ayoke formed upon one end thereof, said roller operatively supported bysaid yoke end, a spring secured to aforesaid ball bearing and to saidyoke end for purpose of retaining the roller normally in contact withsaid cam, a gear engaging said rack, said gear secured to shaft of thevariable condenser of the radio receiver, and means for securing andsupporting said rack on the radio receiver chassis.

ADAM G. FOSS.

